I read with great sympathy and understanding the correspondence from the residents of Rock Road. Anyone who has looked down the length of Rock Road from Old North Road must be appalled. I totally agree with Mr Ellington who has great misgivings about th

I read with great sympathy and understanding the correspondence from the residents of Rock Road.

Anyone who has looked down the length of Rock Road from Old North Road must be appalled.

I totally agree with Mr Ellington who has great misgivings about the future of this market town. It is a message I tried to get over at the town council planning committee meeting in January.

Each time a detrimental development is sanctioned, it paves the way for more of the same, and so, gradually, all the pleasant characteristics of this town will be eroded by the planning department and against the wishes of those who live here.

The portfolio holder for planning and transport, Cllr Thake, said in his reply to Mr Hickman that it was reasonable of North Herts to allow the JM development as no residents had objected. I have been fighting a proposed development in Green Drift for three years, along with people from around 60 other households.

The planning officer is recommending acceptance of the latest plans. Objecting has had no effect.

The planning department, whose salaries we pay, seems very much on the side of the developers. They can ignore guidelines when it suits the developers.

The planning department seems able to persuade councillors that applications going to appeal will not be upheld.

They should be finding ways to enable councillors to reject applications that they know are unsuitable, not persuade them to accept them out of fear.

If the council gets its way and removes planning decisions from the area committee, then decisions on Royston could be decided by more councillors from outside Royston than in it. This move must be stopped.

It is no use thinking 'it doesn't affect' me, because sooner or later, it will.

We have reached the point at which, I think, residents must have some sort of monitoring brief over planning applications, some points of which may not be obvious - such as the height of the JM building - to residents.

Maybe we need a sub-committee of the history society.

Maybe we need a new observation society. What happened to the Royston Society?

Caroline Coates

Green Drift,

Royston